Allegretto moderato

As Printed on a Score

A heading printed above the first system of a movement or song, sometimes beside a form label such as Rondo, and in force until the next tempo word. Because both words name moderate speeds, performers lean on a metronome mark, when one is given, to fix the pace.

How Composers Use It

This is the gentlest of Allegrettos: moderato asks the player not to let the movement become lively. It suits broad, calm themes that should move easily, and it lets brilliant episodes later in a movement stand out against an unhurried main tempo. Expect performers to differ on the exact speed unless you add a metronome mark, and keep the main theme’s rhythm simple enough to sound relaxed at a moderate pace.

Example

Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 (“Waldstein”), third movement (Rondo), m. 1: “Allegretto moderato”, marked “sempre pp” from the start.

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